1 Ne 14:6-10
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The Book of Mormon > First Nephi > Chapter 14
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Contents |
Questions
Verse 6
- Why are the gentiles specifically targetted in v. 6, given that in v. 5 (and as we know) no one who doesn't repent can be saved?
Verse 7
- What kind of temporal destruction awaits the wicked?
Verse 8
- When the angel asks Nephi whether he remembers the covenants with the house of Israel, what is he asking? What covenant or covenants does he have in mind? How is that relevant to Nephi’s purpose for writing his record (1 Ne 1:20)? to this vision? What does it mean to remember the covenants? Does it mean the same thing for a human being as it does for God? (See, for example, Lev 26:42-45.) What is the connection between remembrance and faithfulness? between faithfulness and obedience? Given your answer to that question, what is the angel asking Nephi?
- To which covenants specifically does the angel refer?
Verses 9 & 10
- Why does he remind Nephi of covenants before discussing the great and abominable church?
- Having just asked Nephi whether he remembers the covenants, the angel immediately shows him a vision of the abominable church (v. 9). Why? What does that vision have to do with remembering the covenants? Does v. 2 help us understand who constitutes the church of the Lamb (v. 10)? How do we know which church we are in? Is 1 Ne 12:7-8 relevant? Are there reasons we might have to judge which of the two churches a person other than ourselves is in?
Verse 10
- What does it mean to "belong" to one of the churches (verse 10)? Would it be possible to belong to one of the churches and not know it, or does it need to be a conscious decision?
Lexical notes
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Exegesis
In thinking about verse 10, we may wonder about people who are good but haven't had the opportunity to know about the Savior. It doesn't seem right to say that people who don't even know about the Savior belong to his church. But, if we read verse 10 by itself, it would suggest that such a person belongs to the church of the devil. That doesn't seem right either. To resolve this dilemma, we have to read verse 10 in context.
Verse 7 tells us about a time when a great and marvelous work will come among the children of men. The angel tells Nephi that this work is everlasting and then explains what that means. It is everlasting because the work will either convince people toward peace and life eternal or it will deliver them to being in the captivity of the devil. This work is the preaching of the restored gospel on the earth. So then, in verse 10, when the angel speaks of there only being two churches and that whoever doesn't belong to the church of the Lamb of God belongs to the church of the devil, the angel is speaking from the context of this great and marvelous work.
As verse 7 indicates, it is this great and marvelous work which divides the people into two groups. Verse 10 then isn't applicable to someone who has never heard about the gospel. It is however applicable to us. For us, as verse 10 makes clear, there is no place for a middle ground: whichever of us doesn't follow the Lamb of God belongs to the church of the devil.
Given that the angel's description of the 'two churches' to Nephi follow directly after verse 8, in which the angel asks Nephi if he remembers the 'covenants of the Father unto the house of Israel', I'm going to venture out on a limb here and suggest that the idea of a church is explicitly tied to the idea of a covenant or covenants. In other words, to be a part of a church at all, one must enter into an agreement of some kind with somebody else, in this case the choice being between the 'Lamb of God' or the 'devil'. What's interesting to note is that the angel says 'whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church...' which makes it sound as though there's no scenario where somebody can be 'in between' the two, so to speak. It also implies that there is no choice of whether we want to be a part of the great and abominable church, other than choosing to join the church of the lamb of God. In other words, we are already by default a part of the church of the devil until we *join* the other one. What about that church is so compelling to mankind, that the statement can be made that all belong to it unless they join the church of the Lamb of God? Is it entirely a question of covenants? The Atonement?
Related links
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